Yellow Jackets softball team receives national ranking

INSTITUTE, W.Va -- West Virginia State University's softball team is ranked 25th in the country in the current National Fastpitch Coaches Association poll released this week.

It is the first time the program has received a national ranking. West Virginia State is the only WVIAC team in the rankings.

The Yellow Jackets currently have a 17-6 record.

The Yellow Jackets were selected to the NCAA tournament field for the second time in program history last season where they advanced to the second round. The WVSU squad is led by senior pitchers Sara Pelegreen and Kelsey Lorraine.

“It’s really awesome because we know it’s never been done by a softball team here before,” Lorraine said. “We just hope we can live up to expectations as the season goes on.”

Lorraine currently has an 8-3 record and is second in the West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference with an earned run average of 1.47. Pelegreen is 6-1 and eighth in the conference with a 2.17 ERA.

Head Coach Bob Allen, in his ninth season with the team, said, “It’s wonderful, we’ve had a pretty good season and I hope we can continue to play well.”

The Yellow Jackets next play a doubleheader at the University of Charleston at 6 p.m. Saturday.

West Virginia State University is a public, land grant, historically black university, which has evolved into a fully accessible, racially integrated, and multi-generational institution, located in Institute, W.Va. As a “living laboratory of human relations,” the university is a community of students, staff, and faculty committed to academic growth, service, and preservation of the racial and cultural diversity of the institution. Its mission is to meet the higher education and economic development needs of the state and region through innovative teaching and applied research.